Isaiah 1: 30-31a  For you shall be like an oak whose leaf withers, and like a garden without water.  And the strong shall become tinder, and his work a spark,

What has happened to us in America?  We say we are “blessed” and in a sense we certainly are, but on the other hand in some ways, our blessings have become our curse!  Before you stop reading thinking this is going to be political, it isn’t ~ this is totally about where we are spiritually!  We are missing it and we have been for a long time!

It seems as though over the years we have become quite the watered-down Christians, here in the U.S.  When countries like Africa see the need to send missionaries here I have to say, “we have a problem!”  We used to be the country that sent out missionaries and we held our beliefs strong!  We took a stand for what was right in our land and now we are too afraid of offending someone.  Jesus wasn’t afraid of offending anyone.

We are blessed way beyond what some people in other countries could possibly fathom!  That old car you criticize is something some people in other countries could only dream of having!  That bathroom that you hate to clean is something they don’t even know exists!  Bill bought Springwater the other day and I found myself fussing that it wasn’t ‘purified’ water and yet I have seen women getting water to drink and cook without of the same pond other women were washing their clothes in and, while the cows were standing in it drinking and peeing!  

The reason I am bringing up our conveniences isn’t that we should feel bad about them!  They are a blessing and God has been good to us!  The reason I bring it up today is that we are allowing our conveniences and blessings to make us weak!  I have seen people who have to trust God for every little meal they get to feed their families because they have seen too many days without a meal!  They have to trust God for every little thing and their faith is strong!  We seem to be getting too self-reliant and if we aren’t careful we don’t seek God until there is a problem!  Do you want problems in your life?  I know I don’t!  Isaiah 26:9 says, “With my soul, I have desired you in the night, Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early; For when Your judgments are in the earth, The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.”  Don’t wait for a problem!  Seek Him early ~ don’t waste another minute, start seeking Him with your whole heart today!  Begin by thanking Him for all you have, everything, seriously, I mean every little thing until you have it deep in your mind and heart, just how blessed you are!  What if you lost it all tomorrow?  Where would your heart be?

Someone told me the story the other day of one of the women who lost her husband to ISIS.  They told how she was overcome with grief and mourning until she saw the video of her husband raising his hands in the air and shouting, “JESUS” when they were telling him to renounce his faith!  When she saw him taking his stand for his faith, her grief melted away because she was overwhelmed with pride for her husband’s faith in God to the very end!  That’s when I had to stop and ask myself; how would I react in either one of their shoes?  How would you react?  How strong is my faith?  How strong is your faith?  What would you do?

Let’s not take God’s goodness and allow it to make our faith weak!  Let’s take a look around and see the blessing of God and let’s pour our hearts and souls out to Him, seeking Him with all we have and begging for the strength to be all we need to be for HIM!  Let’s not wait for the tribulation to come, let’s seek Him early so we can be pillars of strength!  We have all the resources we could possibly need to seek the Lord, there are no excuses!  If you want the “best” to come, you will have to start by seeking Him and following Him with your whole heart!

Quote:  “It is impossible to win the race unless you venture to run, impossible to win the victory unless you dare to battle.”  Richard M. DeVos

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